


Ohana Means Family

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-24 07:11:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2572787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some days and times before Mr. and Mrs. Pelekai perished in a car accident that changed everything. Lilo is joining hula school, her sister is currently in college, and Lilo has a group of friends, including a new girl who has a broken family. Hopefully all things will be okay, even after the accident, right? I own nothing, everything is owned by Disney, except some things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Lilo, are you ready for hula school?" Mrs. Pelekai asked as she poured a morning coffee cup for herself while her younger daughter was eating a bowl of cereal.

"Uh-huh," Lilo smiled and ate her breakfast. "Will Nani be there with me?"

"Oh, no, dear, Nani is all grown up now, she went to hula school when she was your age, even I did."

"What about Dad?"

Mr. Pelekai chuckled as he was mentioned. "No hula school for me, but I played the ukulele and listened to Elvis records."

"Elvis is the king!" Lilo made a fist bump.

"Yes, he is," Mr. Pelekai smiled. "Maybe someday you'll be a rock and roll hula dancer, Lilo."

"Rock and hula!" Lilo cheered.

The parents laughed a bit. Mrs. Pelekai looked at the clock. "Oh, it's almost time. You better hurry and finish your breakfast before I gobble it up." she teased, taking out her stirring spoon to take some of the cereal from her bowl.

"No! I got it, Mom!" Lilo pulled her bowl away which made her parents laugh again. She then happily finished her breakfast. "Mom, do you think Nani will be home in time for my birthday?"

"I'm sure she will, honey," Mrs. Pelekai patted her younger daughter's head. "She promised during a week off she would have in college that she would come see you and us."

"What if I can't make friends in hula school?" Lilo frowned.

"Hey now, I know you will, besides if you don't you have your ohana," Mr. Pelekai told her. "Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."

Lilo smiled brightly at him and hugged him real tight. "You guys are the best parents I know."

"We're the only parents you know." Mrs. Pelekai told her lightly.

"Still the best!" Lilo chirped as she finished her breakfast.

"Okay, grab your backpack and I'll see you in the car, Lilo." Mrs. Pelekai took her bowl to wash out.

"Okay, Mom!" Lilo jumped from her seat and dashed to her bedroom.

"She's just like you when you were little." Mr. Pelekai smiled at his wife.

"And Nani was just like you, only more stressed." Mrs. Pelekai teased, then they shared a kiss.

Lilo came back into the kitchen with her backpack and covering her eyes with her pudgy hands. She bumped into the table and backed up a little.

"Lilo, what are you doing?" Mr. Pelekai asked with a laugh.

"I don't wanna watch you two suck face!" Lilo answered, nearly cringing.

Her parents laughed.

Mrs. Pelekai picked her up. "Come on, let's get you in the car."

"Aloha, Dad!" Lilo waved.

"Aloha." Mr. Pelekai waved back as his wife and daughter left.

Mrs. Pelekai strapped herself in her seat belt after helping Lilo in hers. She then started the car and drove to the direction of the hula school. The directions hadn't changed since Nani went to the school.

"Mom, could I have a doll?" Lilo asked.

"When your father and I go out of town next week, we'll buy you the best doll we can," Mrs. Pelekai told her with a smile. "Maybe some new friends you make will want to play with her if you get one."

"Yeah!" Lilo cheered happily, excited about getting a present she already knows she'll get. "Mom... What if I can't make friends?"

"Just be yourself, nothing's better than that. Don't worry about what other people think, they don't do it often."

Lilo giggled a little at that advice. She looked out the window as her house was drawing back out of view and the hula school was coming into view. She sunk low in her seat, feeling very nervous. She was going to be with people she didn't know and they didn't know her.

"If it makes you feel any better, there's a new girl to Hawaii in there," Mrs. Pelekai said, sensing her daughter's anxiousness. "She didn't grow up here."

"She didn't?" Lilo asked, sounding a little calm now, but concerned about the girl. "Where's she from?"

"Your teacher told me she came from New York City," Mrs. Pelekai shut the door, then helped Lilo out and held her hand on their way inside the school. "Her name's Mertle Edmonds."

"Mertle?" Lilo wrinkled her nose at that name. "Sounds like an old lady name."

"Lilo," Mrs. Pelekai sent a scolding tone slightly. "Don't make fun of someone for being different. It isn't nice. You wouldn't want to be made fun of for being different, now would you?"

"No..." Lilo's voice sounded low and distant.

"Just give her a chance, she's new around here, we were all new once," Mrs. Pelekai opened the door and smiled as she saw three other girls with their parents before they left. "Go join them, okay?"

Lilo smiled at her mother and went to the other girls while Mrs. Pelekai was signing Lilo in to join their class. Lilo walked over to the girls, one girl had blonde hair in pigtails wearing pink, another girl had short brown hair wearing green, and the last girl had curly dark hair wearing purple.

"Aloha, my name is Lilo."

The girls looked at each other, then at her. They looked a little quiet and overwhelmed as she was.

"Umm... Hi..." the pigtailed girl spoke up. "My name's Elena..."

"Teresa." the dark-haired girl gave her name.

"My name's Yuki." the final girl with short hair said.

Lilo smiled a little at them, twiddling her fingers. "Umm... So... I guess we're going to all hula together."

"Yeah, I guess..." Teresa sounded anxious.

"Do you wanna play dolls with us?" Yuki asked, sounding excited.

Lilo's smile disappeared. "I-I don't have a doll..."

"Oh," the girls frowned.

"Umm... I guess we'll get to know each other better later..." Lilo stared at the floor.

There came a orange haired girl with big blue glasses. She looked at the girls and looked as though she were afraid of them and quickly went to a nearby table and hid under it. Lilo frowned, seeing the girl in distress. She then got on her hands and knees and crawled to see the girl.

"You must be Mertle." Lilo greeted.

The girl turned to her and shook a bit. "Please, just leave me alone..."

"Are you scared, Mertle?"

"No! Just leave me alone! I didn't wanna move here anyway!"

Lilo sat next to her. "It's okay to be scared, we're all new here. You're from the city and I never been hula dancing before."

Mertle turned to her. "How did you know that I was from the city?"

"My mom told me, the teacher told her... Maybe your dad told them...?"

"I...I don't have a dad anymore..."

"You don't have a dad?" Lilo frowned, she couldn't imagine what that might have felt like.

"No," Mertle stared at the floor. "He ran away... He left us a while ago and Mom said we should move to Hawaii. But, I didn't wanna come here! I wanna go back home with my old friends!"

"You can make new friends, Mertle," Lilo smiled a little. "Right now, you could use a friend. My name is Lilo."

Mertle looked at her and looked down to see Lilo had extended her hand to shake. She smiled a little and took her hand, shaking it. "I hope we can be best friends, Lilo."

"Me too, Mertle."

The girls then went from under the table to Yuki, Teresa, and Elena. Mrs. Pelekai smiled once she saw her younger daughter make friends with the other girls. She already knew that this hula school was going to be a great idea.


	2. Chapter 2

Lilo, Mertle, Yuki, Teresa, and Elena all became fast friends. When they weren't dancing together, they were often sharing some stories. The other girls had to admit that Lilo had bizarre story ideas, such as a teddy bear named Toaster, or a squid who didn't have any friends, not to mention zombies, mummies, and aliens. Mertle nearly forgot completely about her disappeared dad and her old friends in the city and maybe living in Hawaii wouldn't be so bad after all.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Lilo waved once the Pelekai family car horn honked.

"Bye, Lilo!" the girls called.

Lilo smiled and ran off to meet her family at home.

"That girl's kind of weird..." Mertle muttered.

"Yeah..." the other girls agreed.

"But I like her, she's nice." Teresa smiled.

"You don't think she's too weird, do you?" Elena asked, innocently. "I mean... She believes in 'outside' space and all that..."

"Now, girls, I want you all to be nice to Lilo, she's not weird she's... eccentric," the teacher told them with a smile on his face. "Like... Her mother..."

The girls looked at him, then watched Lilo leave with her parents.

"How was hula school, Lilo?" Mr. Pelekai asked as he took the wheel.

"It was great!" Lilo chirped. "Mertle has a... a broken family though."

"Mertle?" Mr. Pelekai asked.

"She's new in Hawaii," Lilo explained. "Her daddy left her...Dad, do you promise not to leave me, Mom, and Nani?"

Mr. Pelekai smiled back at her. "I would never."

"Why did Mertle's daddy leave then?"

The family man released a sharp sigh. "I don't know, honey, that's just how some families are... Some kids don't have a mommy or even both daddy at home at all..."

"No mommy and daddy? Who takes care of 'em, or tucks 'em in at night, or tell 'em stories?"

"Well, some families have other members to take care of them... Some kids are raised by their grandparents, some kids are raised by aunts and uncles..."

"But why, Dad?"

"That's just how it is, Lilo... Some mommies and daddies can't stay with their kids forever and they need someone else to take care of them."

"Oh, okay..."

The family car stopped and Mrs. Pelekai was washing some dishes. She heard the door open and heard some sandals click against the tiled kitchen floor. "Hi honey, how was school? Ooh!" Mrs. Pelekai's eyes widened as she felt a force against her legs and looked down to see her younger daughter hugging her legs. "Hello, dear."

"Mom, please don't leave me, Dad, and Nani..." Lilo moaned.

Mrs. Pelekai looked down at her, wondering where that came from. She looked at her husband as he walked in.

"She's talking about Mertle's father." Mr. Pelekai explained.

"Ohh... Honey," Mrs. Pelekai picked up Lilo in her arms. "Daddy and I would never leave you and Nani. I promise. We're going to be with you two forever and ever."

"But Mertle's daddy left her and her mom..." Lilo nearly cried now.

"She just has a broken family, honey, some families have them, but you have me, your father, and Nani with you. We'll never be broken apart, I promise."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart, dear," Mrs. Pelekai set her down back on the floor and ruffled up her hair. "How about a camp out tonight? There's no rain in the forecast for tonight and we can look at the constellations."

Lilo giggled. "Yay! I'm gonna practice some dances, okay? I don't want you and Dad to see them yet, it's a surprise."

"Okay, you go practice."

Lilo smiled and dashed off to her bedroom.

"She has your spirit," Mr. Pelekai told his wife.

"She really does," Mrs. Pelekai agreed with a smile. "I'm just glad she made friends... You know how shy she can be."

"That's probably why she takes pictures of tourists, she felt like they were her friends and she collected those pictures."

"Oh, dear, I think that was just a phase, she's probably over it now."

"You're probably right."

Lilo flashed her camera in her bedroom and took out some photos she took during lunch in school. "There we go!" she took out a picture of a tourist eating an ice cream cone and put it with her collection. She smiled and folded her arms. "Now I have a captive audience." she then went to put on one of her father's old records as it played Hound Dog and danced to it happily. "I can't wait to show Mertle and the girls this new dance for tomorrow."

"Lilo, phone for you!" Mr. Pelekai called.

Lilo sighed and stopped the record. She was just getting the jest of the dance too. She then left her room as the phone was held out for her. "Who is it?"

"It's your sister." her father told her.

Lilo gasped happily and took the phone. "Hello?"

"What's she saying?"

"Daddy! This is private!"

Mr. Pelekai laughed a little. "Okay, okay..." he then decided to give his daughter some privacy.

Lilo rolled her eyes at him, then kept the phone to her ear. "Aloha, Nani... I miss you..." she admitted, nearly sad.

"I miss you too, kiddo," Nani's voice on the other line said. "College is tough, let me tell you that. I heard you were joining hula school like me!"

"Uh-huh, I made lots of new friends!"

Lilo had completely forgotten about the sadness she faced about her fear of losing her family. The two sisters talked and talked, they never once fought. It was probably because Nani was so far away now and Lilo was still at home with their parents. Their parents just hoped by the time Nani would be able to visit that the two wouldn't be fighting all the time.


	3. Chapter 3

The rain was pouring very hard the following days. Lilo kept staring out the window, wishing it wasn't raining. It had actually only been raining for an hour, but it felt like all day to a child like Lilo with such short attention span and so little patience so she could play with her friends. She wondered what Mertle and the others were doing, if only it were a school day today.

"It might be too rainy for us to go out tonight." Mrs. Pelekai told her husband.

Mr. Pelekai looked out. She was indeed right, it looked like buckets of water were being dropped from the clouds. This was no shape or condition for anyone to be out in and could either drown or get themselves seriously hurt. "We'll stay inside for tonight, hopefully it'll stop soon so we can watch a movie with Lilo."

Lilo sharply sighed and slumped from the window, nearly crawling. She was very small for her age. She even literally had to climb up the stairs to go to her bedroom. "I am so booored..." Lilo moaned, then fell in the middle of the floor. "I'm dying... Tell Nani she can have my chores..."

Mr. and Mrs. Pelekai couldn't help but laugh at their daughter's overactive imagination and drama.

"Lilo," Mrs. Pelekai stifled a chuckle. "Get up."

"No, no, it's too late for me!" Lilo gasped, like she were taking her last breath of air before death. "Save yourselves! It was nice knowing you both... Thank you for the peanut butter sandwich, Mom... Pudge appreciates it..." she then fell, shutting her eyes and sticking out her tongue. She saw many cartoon characters die that way.

Mr. Pelekai laughed and picked her up in his arms. Suddenly there was a loud, threatening clap of thunder that made Lilo wake up, startled.

"Wow, I never heard one that loud before..." Mrs. Pelekai even found herself scared.

"That was pretty intense." Mr. Pelekai nodded in agreement.

"Th-Th-That was s-s-scary!" Lilo shivered, nearly crying. It scared her really bad to hear that and she was really frightened now, no longer dying of boredom.

Mr. Pelekai looked at her, trying to soothe her. "Lilo, I know that was scary, but I promise, thunder can't hurt you, it's just noise."

"That wasn't thunder, Dad, that was a splosion!" Lilo told him, spreading her arms out to show how big the 'splosion' was.

"I promise, Lilo, it won't hurt you."

"But I'm scared..."

Mrs. Pelekai decided to light some candles seeing how bad the storm was getting and zapped the power off which made Lilo scream in fright. She then decided to make some cocoa for herself, her daughter, and her husband. Hopefully this would soothe the girl's fears.

Mr. Pelekai put Lilo on his knee as they went to the living room and the storm was still sounding threatening. "When I was a child, thunderstorms scared me too, but I found a way to calm myself whenever I got scared."

"Yeah?" Lilo asked, wiping one of her tears away.

"Yes, and I'm sure this will help you." Mr. Pelekai told her. He gently pushed her aside to the end of the couch so he would have room and took out his prized ukulele. He then strummed the strings with Lilo watching him, nearly forgetting about her fears as he started to sing a classic, Aloha Oe.

Lilo watched her father play and smiled brightly. He had such a soothing singing voice and the flow of the music complimented the original rendition of the song. The storm noticeably got settled as the man started playing and the thunder and lightning cooled down.

"Until we meet again..." Lilo and her father sang the last bit together. They then shared a laugh.

"See? Storms aren't so bad," Mr. Pelekai told her with a smile. "You can find a way to overcome your fears. Mine is singing or playing my ukulele."

"Maybe I can give it a try too, Dad." Lilo chirped.

"Someday if you really follow your heart."

"I made cocoa," Mrs. Pelekai came in. She handed her husband his cup and took her cup, putting Lilo's cup on the coffee table.

"Hey, that's mine!" Lilo told her.

"Oh? I thought I made two just for me." Mrs. Pelekai joked.

"NOOO!" Lilo took her cup and drank it peacefully with her family.

Her parents laughed a bit and drank more of their cocoa. Lilo looked up from her cup and looked out the window to see the storm was settling a bit. The sky was gray still and the raindrops were slowly coming to a halt.

"That wasn't so bad..." Lilo said, gently.

"See?" Mr. Pelekai smiled fondly at her.

Lilo smiled back at him.

"Who wants to watch a nice alien movie?" Mrs. Pelekai offered with a bright smile. She wasn't only doing this to make Lilo feel better, but she often loved science fiction herself.

"MEEEE!" Lilo and Mr. Pelekai called childishly, then laughed.

"Finish your cocoa," Mrs. Pelekai told them. "I'll get the movie and make some popcorn for us."

Lilo smiled at them and quickly tried to finish her cocoa so she could watch the movie. "Mom, Dad, are you still gonna go on that car ride?" she sounded nervous because of how heavy the rain had been lately.

"Not tonight, honey," Mr. Pelekai told her. "We'll go while you're in school and we'll be back before you know it."

"What if you don't come back?" Lilo bit her lip. "Mertle's Daddy didn't come back..."

"Honey, we know Mertle has her own problems, but we promise, we will never leave you." Mrs. Pelekai soothed.

"Promise?" Lilo sniffled.

Mr. and Mrs. Pelekai looked down at her. They then looked back at each other with assuring smiles, then back down at her. "We promise."

Lilo smiled a bit. She then finished her cocoa so she could enjoy the movie with them and spend some nice quality time with them.


	4. Chapter 4

It was back to hula school. Mr. Pelekai took Lilo over this time and today was the day of the big car trip. Lilo happily waited to get to school with her friends.

"Are you ready to see your friends again, Lilo?" Mr. Pelekai asked her daughter.

"Uh-huh, Daddy, when can I have a doll?" Lilo really wanted to play dolls with Mertle and the others. They usually went to see Mertle after class together and Lilo had never been before.

"When Mama and I go on our trip tonight, I'll pick a doll up for you all your own, you can name her anything you want." Mr. Pelekai told his younger daughter.

"Mertle named her doll Missy, Yuki named hers Yolanda, Teresa named hers Tabitha, and Elena called hers Esmeralda..." Lilo pondered what to name her doll. "I'll name mine...Scrump!"

"Scrump?" Mr. Pelekai didn't want to be mean, but he couldn't help but chuckle at that name. "What kind of name is that, pumpkin?"

"A special one," Lilo explained. "My doll will be very special and unique... Like me!"

Mr. Pelekai chuckled and stopped the car. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Dad!" Lilo beamed and help herself out of the car. "Have a good trip with Mom."

"We shouldn't be long, but we called a sitter just in case."

"Aw, I don't like babysitters!"

"Now, Lilo..."

The young girl sighed. "Fine... But I'm not going to bed at 7:00 and eating broccoli!"

"Aloha, Lilo..." Mr. Pelekai waved and drove off.

Lilo waved at her father. "Okay, bye, Dad!" she then ran inside to join her friends in class. She then went to change into her grass skirt and tube top with grass fringes.

Mertle, Yuki, Teresa, and Elena were standing together, waiting for something to happen.

Lilo came by. "Hey girls, where's Kumo?"

"We don't know," Mertle shrugged. "The door was open and he's not here... That's unlike him."

"Maybe he turned into a zombie!" Elena gasped.

"Maybe he'll eat our brains!" Teresa added.

"Maybe he'll make us eat spinach!" Yuki cried.

The other girls looked at her.

"What?" Yuki asked in defense. "I don't like spinach."

Kumo, the teacher came over. "Good morning, girls, sorry about that, but you all came earlier than I expected, I was making your snacks."

The girls oohed at that.

"Yay, he's not a zombie!" Elena cheered.

"Yay, he won't eat our brains!" Teresa added.

"Yay, I won't have to eat spinach!" Yuki beamed.

"You guys are weird..." Mertle glanced at them.

"They're not weird, Mertle, they're just 'expresent'." Lilo told the red-headed girl.

Kumo chuckled. "Eccentric, Lilo, and you're right, you're eccentric too, just like your mother."

"Whatever eccentric is, it sounds contagious." Mertle cringed.

"Now, as you all know, we're going on a trip not too long from now, it'll be here before you know it to perform in front of a crowd with our hula dancing with the older girls," Kumo told them. "I know it sounds nerve wrecking at first, but if we all practice right, you'll be able to do it as well as the older girls."

"I always wanted to perform in front of a crowd." Mertle said, bouncing her hair.

"It sounds scary..." Elena sounded frightened.

"I know it sounds scary at first, Elena, but we'll all get through it and this will be the best show a hula class of mine has ever preformed." Kumo smiled in front of them. "Now, shall we practice our part before the older girls come from Maui?"

The girls were all dancing the way they were supposed to. They stumbled a bit, but they still had plenty of time before the older girls would come and help them with the big show. Mertle struggled with the last part of the dance since it wasn't exactly in English.

"Mertle, didn't you study the words I taught you?" Kumo asked once they finished the dance.

Mertle grunted. "I tried and tried, but I can't say it! You all need to learn to speak English!"

"Mertle, that's not very nice," the teacher told her. "I know it sounds strange at first, but you'll get used to it."

"What does it even mean?"

"A name-strong for the chief, Kalakaua," Kumo translated Hawaiian to English for the native city girl. "It can be hard at first, but we'll keep practicing and soon you'll get it. Just remember, 'He Inoa No Kalani Kalakaua Kulele'."

"He... Inna...No... Kalamari...Caca kooky...?" Mertle was still unable to say it. "I'll never get this!" she stomped her foot.

Kumo sharply exhaled. "Just practice, Mertle, we all say it in the end and that includes you."

"Well, I like this song." Lilo smiled proudly.

"Yeah, cuz it's about you, I bet it is!" Mertle hissed.

"Well, sorry, they just didn't call it A Song For Mertle, it's A Song for Lilo."

"Show-off!"

"Don't be so mean, Mertle."

"I'm not mean, you're just a song stealer!"

"I'm not a song stealer... Meany face!"

"Weird-lo!"

"Glasses head!"

"Fish girl!"

"Girls, girls, stop fighting," Kumo put his hands before them so they wouldn't fight and attack each other. "It doesn't matter. Lilo, go practice with the others, I'll talk with Mertle."

Lilo sighed. "Okay." she did as told and went to be with Yuki, Teresa, and Elena.

"Is Mertle in trouble, Lilo?" Teresa asked.

"I don't know what got into her," Lilo answered, glancing back at the red-headed girl, then back at the girls. "Hey, can I play dolls with you guys?"

"Do you have a doll?" Yuki asked.

"Not yet, but my Mom and Daddy are gonna go on a road trip tonight and get me one," Lilo smiled.

"Get a doll first, then we'll talk." Elena said, gently as she didn't look up from her golden blonde haired doll. "I wanna grow up to look like Esmeralda..."

"I wanna grow up to be a fashion icon!" Teresa proclaimed.

"I wanna grow up to be a professional hockey player!" Yuki added, which got her another stare from her friends. "What? I like hockey..."

The door slammed open with the girls rushing out to happily go home. Lilo walked out and saw an old face she recognized from the Luau.

"David!" Lilo beamed.

"Howzit, Lilo?" David smiled.

Lilo ran and hugged him. "You babysittin' me?"

"Yeah, your parents just left, it's just you and me tonight, kiddo," David smiled back down at her. "You wanna watch Sludge Mummies?"

"Okay!" Lilo chirped, then got into his car.

David smiled and drove Lilo back to her house. He looked a little nervous as it got dark quickly. Looked like another storm was on the way. David safely drove back to the Pelekai house. Lilo looked a little nervous once she saw the dark clouds and held David's hand as they went into her house. Lilo looked a little nervous to see another storm coming and bit her lip nervously. She heard her father's harmonic voice though play in her head as a treatment to get her way through terrible storms as he sang to her like that rough storm the other night. Lilo felt instantly calm and walked in with David while he went to get some movies for them to watch with some pizza.


	5. Chapter 5

After the movie and some pizza, Lilo was lying her head against David's lap. David had fallen asleep himself and his snoring woke him up. He looked around him in confusion and just remembered he was in the Pelekai household. He looked down and smiled as he saw Lilo sleeping.

"Time for bed, kiddo." David told her and picked her up in his arms.

Lilo yawned and stretched a bit. "That was a great movie. Thanks for the fun, David."

"Of course, Lilo. Now, let's get you ready for bed."

"Awww..."

"I know, I know, but trust me, sleep is important."

"Mummies and zombies never sleep!" Lilo folded her arms, pouting.

"Yes, but you're not a mummy or a zombie, Lilo." David chuckled.

"Maybe I will be someday..."

"Okay, just get some sleep now. You had a big day with dancing, pizza, and movies."

"Okay, good night, David." Lilo yawned as she was placed back on the floor and went to her bedroom.

"Good night, Lilo." David smiled, then went to the living room. It was pretty late, he thought for sure that Lilo's parents would wake him and her up. "I wonder where they are?" he murmured to himself, then sat back down on the family couch and flipped through other channels as the movie was over. "They would at least call if they were going to be late."

David flicked through and saw a talent show, a Disney movie, an alien coming down from outer space, various cartoons and came to the news. David shrugged and laid back as he had the news on then heard a news story that made his face pale.

"Earlier this evening, we were cast with a severe storm out of Kokawa Town, Kauai, fortunately no one was injured there, but there was a tragic car accident upon a couple by the names of Layla and Jose Pelekai," the news reporter announced the names of Lilo's parents. "The couple were coming into Kauai, but the slippery roads made their tires steer and crash against a cliff and they fell to their deaths."

David had to turn off the TV right then. He wasn't their son, but the Pelekai's often treated him like their own family. He looked up sadly at the little girl's bedroom, completely unaware of the news about her parents. The photograph of the beautiful Layla and the charming Jose. They were a perfectly happy couple with who they believed was the perfect family, even if their daughters got into fights when Nani still lived with them before graduating high school. He even glanced at his cell phone and had Nani on his speed dial. How and what was he going to tell them? David heaved a sharp sigh and decided to call up Nani.

"Aloha?"

"Nani... I have something to tell you..." David said, shallowly.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning was an uneasy morning. David decided to tell Lilo right as soon as she woke up. He knew it was a lot of pressure on the poor kid, but she had to know. It was better to hear it from a friend than a news report like David was told. He had been friends with the Pelekai family for many years and was Nani's closest and best friend in all of Hawaii. More than Ellen and Lona from junior high school. David sat in the kitchen, he had made toast and scrambled eggs for them. He decided to stay with Lilo today since the girl wasn't going to have her parents with her.

"Hey, kiddo..." David grimly greeted as she came in the kitchen.

Lilo didn't answer. She wasn't sure what to say. Today would be an unforgettable day. April 14th was an unhappy April 14th this year and the years after this year will be even harder. She couldn't eat, she had cried so much this morning earlier she couldn't feel any wetness in her body, her heart had been stabbed and her stomach had been sealed shut. She lost her appetite right when David told her the news. All previous starving feeling she had, were now instantly gone as her parents were now.

"Not hungry, huh?" David asked her.

Lilo shook her head. She didn't want to talk. She felt like if she did, she would throw up from emotional worry and depression. The idea of her parents being dead and killed just made her feel sick to her stomach. She wasn't ever going to hear her mother's angelic lullaby to soothe her in a dangerous night's sleep anymore. She wasn't going to hear her father's ukulele playing ever again. Who knew the last time she would hear those things would really be the last time? She just wanted all of this to be a bad dream and she would wake up in her parents' warm embrace again and they would talk it over with some estranged fairy tales such as a bear named Toaster.

"You want to skip hula class today?" David asked after forced silence.

Lilo looked at him. She looked just like a puppy in the animal shelter about to be put down because no one would take her into her family. She then slowly nodded.

"Okay, I'll call your teacher for you." David said, tenderly, then went to the Pelekai telephone.

Lilo sadly sighed and put her head down on the table. Today just felt like pure torture. She fed Pudge his peanut butter sandwich and he controlled the weather for her. Why couldn't he stop the rain last night that eventually killed her parents in an accident? It was an accident, sure, but she really didn't want to accept the fact that her parents were dead and long gone. This was too much for a girl Lilo's age to bear.

"Hello?" David managed to get the hula school. "Yes, this is David Kawana. You might not remember me, I was Nani's friend when she was in hula school...Yeah, with the wavy hair," David softly chuckled, even if today was painful. He then grew serious again. "Listen, Lilo won't be in class today...There was a terrible accident last night, her parents are now dead."

Lilo felt another jab inside her body. She didn't want those words to be true, but they were.

"Yes, I'm sorry too, mahalo, bye then." David hung up the phone.

In the hula school, the girls were talking to each other before Kumu would go to them and tell them what their lesson was for the day. He seemed to had been in grief as well as Lilo and David. He didn't know Lilo's father that well, but remembered that when Layla was younger, she was a precious hula girl. She preformed in the May Day Festival and won the competition with a blue ribbon and is even in a book for it. She was graceful as a wave.

Kumu hung up the phone and he looked very down as he came to his students. "Girls, I'm afraid Lilo will not be attending class today... Her parents were in a terrible accident." he then walked off to get some fresh air.

The girls watched him leave and they all looked at each other.

"What do you think happened to Lilo's parents?" Teresa spoke up.

"Maybe they went back to the mental hospital cuz Lilo's such a freak." Mertle taunted.

"Mertle!" the other girls didn't like that.

"Come on, you guys wanna be cool and my friend, right?" Mertle smirked, folding her arms. "I'm from the city after all..."

"Yeah, I guess..." Yuki shrugged.

"That was just mean though." Elena cut in.

Mertle had to admit. It was mean of her, but the other kids made fun of her when her father left the family. She just wanted to get even and this was her way of dealing with it. "Come on, guys, her parents are gone! Lilo drives me crazy, maybe she drove them crazy! You wanna be my friend or not?"

The girls paused and looked at her. "Well..."

"You can all be apart of the FHGH when we have tea parties..." Mertle smirked, crossing her arms.

The girls got excited about that and cheered.

"Tea party? Eww!" Yuki shuddered. "What's the FHGH anyway?"

"It's Future Hula Girls of Hawaii, of course, I just made it up." Mertle told them.

"Well, okay Mertle, we'll be on your side, but let's check on Lilo later." Elena suggested.

"Yeah!" Teresa and Yuki agreed.

"We'll probably see her tomorrow, she probably just wants attention." Mertle scoffed about Lilo not showing up to class today, but she still agreed to seeing the 'eccentric girl' afterwards.


	7. Chapter 7

It took a while before Lilo went back to school. David decided to stay with Lilo a bit more and he had called Nani out of college to come comfort her younger sister. David took Lilo to hula class. Normally this would be the highlight of the day next to feeding Pudge peanut butter sandwiches. Would the girl ever be happy again? What was she and Nani going to do after the loss of their parents? Millions of questions would be unanswered to Lilo as she would never see her warm, nurturing mother again or the calm, support and teasing humor of her father.

"Have a good day, okay, kiddo?" David told the girl gently. "Your sister should be picking you up today... Chin up, okay?"

Lilo looked up at him and sharply sighed. She looked at her school and lugged her bag that seemed a lot heavier than usual today. She trudged inside the school and changed into her skirt and such while the other girls were doing the same. Lilo walked out of the room and looked over to see her friends chattering among each other.

"H-Hey, guys!" Lilo called. She was hoping her friends would get her mind off the trauma she had endured lately.

Mertle, Yuki, Teresa, and Elena looked over to see her.

Lilo used her best mouth strength to keep a perfectly framed smile and hide her sadness. "What's up?"

"Umm... Hey, Lilo..." Teresa greeted weakly.

"How are you feeling?" Yuki asked, showing general concern.

"Yeah, Kumu told us what happened." Elena said, going with her and the others.

Mertle looked to see the girls crowding Lilo. "Hey, guys! Don't you wanna hear about the time I stood on top of the Statue of Liberty!?" she suddenly craved attention.

The girls weren't paying attention to her. They were instead focused on Lilo who had tragically lost her parents.

"Hey, you guys!" Mertle grew angry.

"That must be really sad, Lilo..." Teresa said softly.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost my mom... She makes the best coconut cake." Yuki added.

"HEY!" Mertle hissed. "Pay attention to me!"

Elena looked a little angry with Mertle, giving her the stink eye. "Mertle, how about a little sympathy? Lilo just lost her mom and dad! Don't you know what that's like?" she then turned her head back to the center of attention.

Mertle growled. She wasn't the center of attention. This was worse than when she was told to memorize the Hawaiian proverb at the end of the song the girls were going to perform with the older girls. What was she going to do? She was the new student who transferred from the city where everyone spoke 'real English' and she was spoiled and treasured by both her parents, especially her aunt who was a Hollywood agent. If it wasn't for a mistake Mertle made during her old school production, she would probably be a star by now and then who wouldn't want to be a friend of Mertle Edmonds?. School was kind of about Lilo today which made the red-headed girl very angry.

Lilo met her sister out the hula school as this was a very slow and painful hula class. Lilo liked to see her friends again, but all she could think of were her parents. Nani was in shock herself. She had to drop out of college just to come back home and take care of her little sister. Nani was a lot older than Lilo, so they were never really bonding much as sisters. By the time Nani graduated from high school, Lilo was just starting school herself.

Mertle went home with her mother and she slammed the door open as the girls went their separate ways for the afternoon and evening. "It's not fair! How come she gets all the attention!? I'm the new girl in Hawaii, not her!" the red-haired girl went into her room and climbed up on her bed. "She stole all my new friends! How could she do that to me? She's just weird and did that stupid dance about zombies or whatever! What makes her so special?"

"Mertle, is everything okay in there?" Mrs. Edmonds called from the other side of the house.

"I'm fine, Mom, just plotting!" Mertle called back, folding her arms.

"Okay, could you keep it down though? I'm making muffins with dinner tonight!"

"Whatever, Mom!"

Mrs. Edmonds sighed. She just hoped this being rude and uncaring to her was just a phase her daughter was going through. She knew it would take time for her daughter to get over the separation, but hopefully it would be pleasant and Mertle would be her kind and cheerful self again. Little did she know, Mertle was getting worse before she could even get better. She was thinking of ways to get back at Lilo for hogging all the attention all because her parents died.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen, Lilo..." Nani told her younger sister sadly. "Listen, while you're in school tomorrow, I'll need to meet social services."

"Are they going to take me away?" Lilo asked, in an emotionless tone due to her depression.

"What? No, Lilo..."

"It's okay, I know that Mom and Dad are gone and we can't do anything to have them back..."

"Lilo..." Nani tried to soothe her sister. "Please... Yes, Mom and Dad are gone, but don't think like that. They still love us."

"But they're gone!" Lilo's voice became more vocal. "We can't have them back! It's not like those movies where the parents are gone and everything turns out fine in the end!" she stormed off to her room and slammed the door.

Nani winced at the slamming door and sighed. "This is going to be harder than I thought... I just hope they don't take her away..."


	8. Chapter 8

David stayed with Lilo until Nani would make it back home. This was not how she wanted her school year to turn out. She remembered the excitement of graduating high school and going off to college, promising her parents and sister to be back for Christmas. When Nani came, she brushed Lilo's hair down and did her best to keep up with her sister's eccentric behavior inherited from their mother in which Nani inherited the seriousness, but still joking mannerisms from their father. Lilo was going to school and still felt odd, but trying to cope with the loss of the two important people in her life. It was really hard to see Nani in hula class in a before year with the late Jose and Layla Pelekai.

Myrtle Edmonds was really mad. Lilo was getting a lot of attention since her parents had died from the accident. She was the new girl, she came from the big city, she should have all the attention. Myrtle came in to see Yuki, Teresa, and Elena fondling over Lilo and offering anything to help her out to help her deal with the loss of her parents. Myrtle saw this yet again, then came close.

"Why are you guys still talking to her?" Myrtle demanded, speaking up for a change. "She's weird, you know!"

"Myrtle, Lilo's been through a lot, she's lost her parents!" Yuki spoke up.

"Yeah, that's worse than having to eat broccoli!" Teresa added.

"Yeah, but she's weird," Myrtle huffed. "Just because her parents are gone, doesn't mean you have to be her friend!"

"What do you mean have to be my friend?" Lilo looked up at the red-headed girl. "They've always been my friends!"

"Oh, please, they're just pretending to be your friends cuz your Mom and Dad are gone!" Myrtle scoffed. "You all were my friend cuz my Dad was gone! You should all move on!"

The girls looked at the two girls, wondering who to side with.

"You're such a weird girl, Lilo, no wonder your parents were gone." Myrtle snorted.

"They couldn't help that, it was an accident," Lilo explained. "It was very rainy one night, Daddy probably couldn't see where he was going."

"Didn't you say Sludge the Fish could control the weather?" Myrtle smirked, using Lilo's personal traditions against her. "You're apposed to give him a peanut butter sandwich on every Thursday."

"I did... Except this one time... I overslept and Mom took me to school."

"Maybe that one time, Sludge didn't care about you," Myrtle smirked again. "Maybe he just thought since you forgot to feed him that he forgot to protect your parents. Did you ever think of that?"

"It's your fault your parents are killed!" Elena pointed accusingly to Lilo.

"Yeah, you brought it out on yourself!" Teresa added.

"Yeah, Lilo, that was bad!" Yuki included in.

"But, I didn't mean to! Pudge wouldn't hurt me or my family!" Lilo cried out.

"Murderer!" the other girls called to Lilo.

"Come on, girls, let's let the Parent Killer play by herself." Myrtle scoffed, walking off.

"Yeah!" the other girls agreed, going with her.

"But... It... It's not my fault!" Lilo cried, tears coming to her eyes. Could that really be true? She forgot to give Pudge his sandwich for the week and he forgot to protect Lilo's parents against the harsh storm? Lilo started crying.

"Lilo, is everything okay?" the teacher came to the little girl.

"Leave me alone, I'm a parent killer!" Lilo cried, then ran out of the school.

"Oh, dear..."

Lilo kept running as she cried. Her tears blinding her, but she knew the way home. She even crossed the street alone and was nearly run over.

"Watch where you're going, kid!" the driver called.

"I'm sorry!" Lilo cried, then kept trying to get home safely. She went to the town close to her house and turned left to climb up the way to her house, as she bawled. She was surprised to see the door was unlocked and she ran upstairs to her bedroom and started crying. She held her pillow and let the tears leak out.

"Lilo, is that you?" a voice called. It was Lilo's older sister. Nani came into the room and saw the poor girl crying. "Lilo, you're not supposed to be home for another four hours!"

"I can't go back there!" Lilo cried. "It's my fault Mom and Dad are in Heaven now!"

"Lilo, it's not your fault..."

"Yes it is, they said so!"

"Who?"

"My friends!" Lilo cried. "Yuki, Teresa, and Elena! They said it's my fault Mom and Dad got hurt!"

"Honey..." Nani sat down on her younger sister's bed and cradled her the way only a mother could. "Lilo... It's not your fault... Why would they say that?"

"Myrtle said that because one week I forgot to feed Pudge that he made a storm happen and killed Mom and Dad!" Lilo bawled.

Nani didn't believe that Pudge could control the weather, but she didn't want her sister to think that she was a bad girl. Instead, she gave a tight, warm, comforting hug. "Lilo, believe me, that wasn't your fault... Some things just happen. Do your friends know Pudge?"

Lilo sniffled, wiping her eye. "No..."

"Do they feed Pudge peanut butter sandwiches?"

"No."

"It's not your fault, yes, Mom and Dad suffered, but it is not your fault..."

"You're just saying that cuz you're my sister..."

"Yes, but it's not your fault, but don't cry... Mom and Dad wouldn't want to see you sad, would they?"

"No, I guess not..."

Nani returned the hug. "I know you miss them, I really miss them too, trust me..."

"You've known them longer." Lilo dropped her head.

"True, but I can imagine how you must feel... Listen to me, Lilo, you just ignore what those other girls say, and remember, your big sister will be here to love and protect you. We're ohana... You know what Dad says."

"Yes... Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind..."

"Or forgotten." Nani finished.

Lilo felt a little better.

"They may not be here anymore, but they're in our hearts... Why don't you get some sleep? I'll call your teacher and he'll let you stay home for a little while."

"But I wanna dance! I practiced!"

"I understand, but some rest will do you some good, trust me," Nani tucked her in. "Go back to sleep, I'll tell your teacher. You should feel better by the time the older girls come to your class."

"Okay," Lilo yawned, feeling sudden tiredness. "Good night, Nani..."

"Good night, Lilo," Nani chuckled, then went the door.

"Oh, umm... Nani!" Lilo sat up in her bed quickly. "You know the photograph we took while Mom and Dad and you were around for the picnic before you left to college?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Could I have it?"

Nani thought that would be a great way to help Lilo out during her grief and depression. "Sure, dear... I'll get it."

Lilo smiled, then lay back in her bed. Nani came back not too long and handed the photograph Lilo mentioned. Lilo took it and kissed her parents and decided to hold the picture. Nani let Lilo keep it as long as she wanted and went to call her teacher. Lilo was feeling a bit better to have the picture of her parents in her possession and kept it under her pillow.

The End


End file.
